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Wednesday, February 7, 2018

BEYOND DANGER

Congratulations to "Trish J.", the winner in Kat's giveaway. Thank you to all who participated!

BEYOND DANGERNew York Times bestselling
author Kat Martin brings page-turning suspense to a tale of secrets and
passions turned deadly . . .Texas mogul Beau Reese is furious. All six feet
three obscenely wealthy, good-looking inches of him. His sixty-year-old father,
Stewart, a former state senator no less, has impregnated a teenager. Barely
able to contain his anger, Beau is in for another surprise. It appears that
Stewart has moved an entirely different woman into the house . . .Beau assumes that stunning Cassidy Jones is his
father’s mistress. At least she’s of age. But those concerns take a sudden
backseat when he finds Stewart in a pool of blood on the floor of his study—and
Cassidy walks in to find Beau with his hand on the murder weapon.The shocks just keep coming. Someone was
following Stewart, and Cassidy is the detective hired to find out who and why.
Now she’ll have to find his killer instead. Her gut tells her it wasn’t Beau.
And Beau’s instincts tell him it wasn’t Cassidy. Determined to track down the
truth, they form an uneasy alliance—one that will bring them closer to each
other—closer to danger and beyond . . .

Beau could hardly believe it.His father was sixty years old!The girl sitting across from him in a booth
at the Pleasant Hill Café looked like a teenager.A very pregnant teenager.

“Everything’s going to be okay, Missy,” Beau Reese
said.“You don’t have to worry about
anything from now on.I’ll make sure
everything is taken care of from here on out.”

“He bought me presents,” the girl said, dabbing a Kleenex
against the tears in her eyes.“He told
me how pretty I was, how much he liked being with me.I thought he loved me.”

Fat chance of that,
Beau thought.His dad had never loved
anyone but himself.

Shoving a hand through his wavy black hair, Beau took a
steadying breath.He had always wanted a
baby brother or sister.Now at the age
of thirty five, he was finally going to have one.

Beau felt a surge of protectiveness toward the young woman
carrying his father’s child.

He looked over to where she sat hunched over next to her
mother on the opposite side of the pink vinyl booth.“Everybody makes mistakes, Missy.You picked the wrong guy, that’s all.Doesn’t mean you won’t have a great kid.”

For the first time since his arrival, Missy managed a
tentative smile.“Thank you for saying
that.”

Beau returned the smile.“I’m going to have a baby sister.I promise she won’t have to worry about a thing from the day she’s born
into this world.”Hell, he was worth
more than half a billion dollars.He
would see the child had everything she ever wanted.

When Missy’s lips trembled, her mother scooted out of the
booth.“I think she’s had enough for
today.This is all very hard on her and
I don’t want her getting overly tired.”Josie reached for her daughter’s hand.“Let’s go home, honey.You’ll
feel better after a nap.”

Beau got up, too, leaned over and brushed a kiss on Missy’s
cheek.“You both have my number.If you need anything, call me.Okay?”

Missy swallowed.“Okay.”

“I should have called you sooner.”Josie’s eyes teared up.“I didn’t know how I was going to manage the
bills all by myself.“Thank you, Beau.”

“Everything’s going to be okay.”He watched the women head for the door, the
bell ringing as Josie shoved it open and she and Missy walked out of the
café.

Leaving money on the table for his coffee, he followed the
women out the door, his temper climbing toward the boiling point.His father should be the one handling Missy’s
pregnancy.He’d had months to step up
and do the right thing.Beau figured he
never would.

As he crossed the sidewalk and opened the door of his dark
blue Ferrari, his temper cranked up another notch.By the time the car was roaring along the
road to his father’s house, his fury was bubbling just below the surface.

Unconsciously his foot pressed harder on the gas, urging the
car down the two-lane road at well over eighty miles an hour.With too many tickets in Howler County
already, he forced himself to slow down.

Making the turn into Country Club Estates, he jammed on the
brakes and the car slid to a stop in front of the house.The white, two-story home he’d been raised in
oozed Southern charm, the row of columns out front mimicking an old-style
plantation.

Climbing out of the Ferrari, one of his favorite vehicles, he
pounded up the front steps and crossed the porch.The housekeeper had Mondays and Tuesdays off
so he used his key to let himself into the entry.

On this chilly, end-of-January day, the ceiling fans hadn’t
been turned on, leaving the interior strangely silent.The ticking of the ornate grandfather clock
in the living room seemed louder than it usually did.

“Dad!It’s Beau!Where are you?”When he didn’t get an answer, he strode down
the hall toward the study.He had phoned
his father on his way here from Dallas.Though he’d done his best to keep the anger out of his voice, he wasn’t
sure he had succeeded.Maybe his father
had left to avoid him.

“Dad!”Still no
answer.Beau continued down the hall,
his footsteps echoing in the quiet.As
he reached the study, he noticed the door standing slightly ajar.Steeling himself for the confrontation ahead,
he clamped down on his temper and shoved open the door.

His father wasn’t sitting at the big rosewood desk or in his
favorite overstuffed chair next to the fireplace.Beau started to turn away when an odd
gurgling sound sent the hairs up on the back of his neck.

“Dad!”At the
opposite end of the desk, Beau spotted a prone figure lying on the floor in a
spreading pool of blood.“Dad!”The handle of a letter opener protruded from
the middle of his chest.

Beau raced to his father’s side.“Dad!”Blood oozed from the wound in his chest and streamed onto the hardwood floor.He had to stop the bleeding and he had to do
it now!

He hesitated, praying he wouldn’t make it worse, then with
no other option, grabbed the handle of the letter opener, jerked it out,
gripped the front of his dad’s white shirt and ripped it open.

“Oh, my God!What are
you--”

Beau glanced up to see the woman, Cassidy Jones, standing in
the doorway.“Call 9-1-1!Hurry, he’s been stabbed!Hurry!”

The shapely brunette, his father’s newly hired personal
assistant, didn’t pause, just pulled out her cell and dialed the emergency
number.

Beau’s hand shook as he checked for a pulse, found
none.The wound was catastrophic, a stab
wound straight to the heart.No way
could his father survive it.

Cassidy ran over and knelt on the floor beside him.“Here, use this to seal the hole.”She seemed amazingly in control as she handed
him a credit card then ran to the wet bar and grabbed a towel, rushed back and
handed it over.

Beau pressed the towel over the credit card on top of the hole,
all the while knowing his father was already dead or within moments of dying.Whoever had stabbed him knew exactly where to
bury the blade.

Cassidy reached down to check for herself, pressing her
fingers in exactly the right spot on the side of his father’s neck.She had to know it was hopeless, just as he
did, must have known Stewart Reese was dead.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

Sorrow slid through him, making his chest clamp down.Or maybe it was sadness for the kind of man
his father was, the kind who had wound up the victim of a killer.

He felt Cassidy’s eyes on him, assessing him with
speculation--or was it suspicion?

Beau looked down at his father, his eyes closed, his face
slack in death.Stuart Reese was dead
and Beau wanted answers.He vowed
whatever it took, for as long as it took, he wouldn’t stop until he found the
man who had murdered his dad.

Giveaway:

Kat is giving away a copy of INTO THE WHIRLWIND to one lucky reader posting a comment or email entry. (Hardback, Kindle, or Nook-Winner's Choice US ONLY)

Giveaway ends 11:59pm EST February 8th. Please supply your email in the post. You may use spaces or full text for security. (ex. jsmith at gmail dot com) If you do not wish to supply your email, or have trouble posting, please email maureen@justromanticsuspense.com with a subject title of JRS GIVEAWAY to be entered in the current giveaway.

I have enjoyed Kat Martin's books for years. I started with her historical books and moved on to her contemporary and paranormal books. She writes books that capture your attention and satisfy, no matter what genre she is writing in. I will enjoy these new ones.

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A recipe that includes a dash of desperation, a smidgen of danger, a dollop of adventure and a healthy portion of passion. Sprinkle a happy ending on top and you have the perfect meal. - JUST ROMANTIC SUSPENSE